Michael A. De Leon is a graphic designer by day, but wears many hats in his off time. In 2004, after several years of covering the Spurs, he started Project Spurs, a Spurs team fansite as an outlet to provide content to Spurs fans, while continuing to write for himself and learning the ins and outs of online publishing and web design. He has since built a writing team and started a popular weekly Spurs podcast called the Spurscast.

Note: This is an mySA.com City Brights Blog. These blogs are not written or edited by mySA or the San Antonio Express-News. The authors are solely responsible for the content.

The San Antonio Spurs (28-4) look to continue their tough stretch of games as they face the Northwest division leaders the Oklahoma City Thunder (23-11) tonight in San Antonio.

The Spurs are coming off two fantastic wins over the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks as they continue to maintain their hot start to the NBA season. Playing against the Thunder will be yet another measuring stick to see how the Spurs fare against a very young squad like the Thunder, a team they beat earlier this season, 117-104.

To discuss tonight’s matchup, I turn to fellow NBA blogger here at Bloguin Rob Kelley from Thunder Ballers, the best Thunder site on the Internet. Seriously you need to check it out!

In this Q&A, Rob talks about the expectations on Oklahoma City, what the Thunder should do to get the win over the Spurs, his key matchups and more. To read the Q&A I did with Rob, click HERE to visit Thunder Ballers.

Jeff: I have to admit, I came into the season expecting the Thunder to be right there with the Spurs and Lakers. I know they have a solid record (23-11) and lead their division but it just seems the Thunder haven’t really gotten over that hump to be a power in the Western Conference. Is it simply that this team is still too young?

Rob: I think to some extent, the expectations are a little too high, including my own. People have to remember that yes, this is a very young team, and that they were just the 8th seed in the Western Conference last season. While they gave the Lakers quite a scare in the first round, this team still has room for improvement. The fact that they currently hold the 4th seed and have battled a few injuries is definitely a step in the right direction.

Do you feel the Thunder need more veteran leadership or should Kevin Durant be the one to be more vocal with his teammates?